Innovation or e-waste? Apple rumored to ditch headphone jack

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Wrong way, Tigger. Square and PayPal swipe readers both plug into the headphone jack. Doing away with that form of connectivity would be a big middle-finger to not only accessory manufacturers and buyers, but a horde of small businesses.

The release of new hardware won't stop the old ones from working. Small business owners can upgrade at their leisure...in any case, purchasing a new lightning port based model would require a pretty small expenditure.

Originally Posted by leaston

Try streaming lossless files via bluetooth and you'll kiss goodbye to hearing anything with high fidelity.

True.

But going by the number of white earbuds and Beats headphones that I see everyday, high fidelity, high quality audio reproduction isn't something the mass market is particularly interested in anyway.

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Before long they will ditch on-device storage (except for OS) and insist all files etc be on cloud....

On-device storage is how they price differentiate their different models. I doubt they torpedo their margins to do that.

[Tarana]

As much as I like Bluetooth, my frustration with trying to get my Idevices to all connect to all my Bluetooth devices would actually prevent me from upgrading my iStuff until the other stuff is either worn out or apps that I depend on will no longer be upgraded. I don't use an Iphone (cheap flip phone is all I need), so my nanos and Itouches will carry me for some time. As mentioned, the biggest problem with holding onto older devices is outdated software.

I would be more concerned if they eliminated the usb port. Most of my music and a lot of audiobooks are not in the cloud but on CD which I transfer to my Istuff.

[ApK]

There will certainly be a lightning to 3.5mm adapter, just like there was a lightning to 30 pin, so I doubt this is an issue of much significance, beyond continuing to make me happy to not use iPhones.

By the way, as for "who would want to use a corded headphone," that'd be me, until there is a cordless option that is as light, and cheap as my little corded earphones, and that didn't have a yet another battery I needed to keep charged and eventually replace.

[Katsunami]

I refuse to use anything wireless, except for some obvious devices:

- Mobile phone
- Tablet
- Remote control
- Laptop Wifi (but I connect it to a 1GB patch panel if I REALLY need to move some stuff)

The only exception I'm making is a wireless mouse. I have been using wireless mice since the first Logitech Pilot mouse in 1995 (wow, 20 years already), and never had a problem. I dislike the cable that always pulls at the mouse.

[crane3]

Originally Posted by Shane R

...are 20 years or more out of the picture. Different times, different company.

so what does that have to do with "standards"?

I'm still using SCSI cables from different companies; they are SCSI II cables which are also standards NOW. Some people use SCSI III for their equipment & have read about people still using IDE cables with/without adapters.

Not everyone has money to burn to buy expensive apple products.

[QuantumIguana]

My solution is not to buy Apple products. I hadn't actively avoided them before, but if I can't plug in headphones, I may have to start actively avoiding them.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Shane R

The release of new hardware won't stop the old ones from working. Small business owners can upgrade at their leisure...in any case, purchasing a new lightning port based model would require a pretty small expenditure.

I followed your link and it is the model that needs the 3.5 connection.

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I followed your link and it is the model that needs the 3.5 connection.
Attachment 145898

Yes. My point being that if a business owner decided to upgrade, he's not looking a large outlay of cash.

As far as I know and lightning one doesn't exist. And...this could all be rumors and the next iPhone does get released with a headphone jack.

No one knows.

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I dislike the cable that always pulls at the mouse.

I feel the same about headphone cables when I'm exercising. Otherwise, though, the cable doesn't annoy me.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Shane R

I feel the same about headphone cables when I'm exercising. Otherwise, though, the cable doesn't annoy me.

If I exercised, I'd probably agree.
Seriously though, the only place the cords bother me is when I want to listen in bed, and I now have a pair of wireless SleepPhones for that. They stay by my bedside and charge when not in use.

[GlennD]

Once you commit to Bluetooth it's easy to imagine a phone with no plugs. I have a good BT speaker that I move to whatever room I need it in, as well as BT headphones and BT on my car stereo. I would not willingly go back to wired devices - I know the batteries will eventually need replacement but I seem to be hard on wires. I've replaced way too many headphones because they got a short in one of the wires.

I think all of those output devices should retain the ability to plug in a music source via headphone jack, but I would applaud Apple if they made a sealed waterproof phone that had no plugs at all.

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by GlennD

I would not willingly go back to wired devices - I know the batteries will eventually need replacement but I seem to be hard on wires. I've replaced way too many headphones because they got a short in one of the wires.

Huh. That's absolutely true, and I never really thought about it.

My last cell phone far outlived several connection cables and at least one pair of headphones that went bad or had shorts in them.

[Jessica Lares]

They probably have new APIs coming out for iOS 10 that deal with Bluetooth latency issues. I don't think they'd do it otherwise.

Also:

- Half of people using iPhones haven't upgraded to the iPhone 6 or 6S apparently.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/26/10...s-upgrade-rate

- Apple thinks this is the first year iPhone sales will go down.

Another thing to think about is that there is already a very big headphone market. Saying that people are just going to dump their existing EarPods leaves out the fact that people are probably already going through many pairs of cheap headphones and have for years. Beats stuff has been known to break constantly too.

I'd rather have a headphone jack too, but I'm biased because I haven't tried any of the wireless options either.

I want an adapter anyway because my headphones don't work with my ClamCase Pro.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Shane R

...are 20 years or more out of the picture. Different times, different company.

SCSI cables come in more versions than just the old 50 pin, SCSI(1).

SCSI2 and SCSI3
USB comes in many levels
SATA comes in many levels

But the topic is earphone jacks.
While Apple may not use it, Motorola used the earphone cord as the antenna for OTA FM radio (You can not listen to FM on the Blu tooth)

IMHO one of the reasons they want to ditch Analog outputs: They have no DRM block capability

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by theducks

IMHO one of the reasons they want to ditch Analog outputs: They have no DRM block capability

DRM went away from the music store in 2009.